Four-way gate-hinge.



1150. 856,008. PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907.

o. W. WBSTERBERG, FOUR WAY GATE HINGE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 80, 1905- l :vumus FITERS co, wAsmuawom u c.

UNITED STATES PATENT iron. I

CARL W. WESTERBERG, OF DE KALB, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALFRED E. WESTERBERG, OF DE KALB, ILLINOIS.

FOUR-WAY GATE-HINGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 4, 1907.

Application filed June 30,1905. Serial No. 267,828- I To (bi/Z whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL W. WESTER- BERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at De Kalb, in the county of Dekalb and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Four-Nay Gate-Hinge, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in gate hinges.

The object of'the present invention is to improve the construction of gate hinges, and to provide a simple and comparatively inexpensive gate hinge adapted to permit either end of a gate to swing in either direction to facilitate the operation of the gate.

A further object of the invention is to provide a gate hinge of this character in which the movable members for unlatching or releasing the gate will be positively locked in engagement with the gate, so that there will be no liability of either end of the gate being accidentally uufastened.

Also the invention has for its object to provide a gate hinge adapted to be quickly operated to unlatch and latch it, and in which the operating mechanism will form the lock for retaining the movable members of the hinge in engagement with the gate.

ith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of proportion, size, and minor details of 0011- struction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing :Figure 1 is a side elevation of a swinging gate provided with a hinge, constructed in accordance with this invention, the movable hinge member at one end of the gate being raised for unlatching the latter. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail per spective view of a portion of one end of the gate, parts of the hinge being broken away to illustrate the construction more clearly. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the corner caps of the gate. Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of 'the lower supporting brackets.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw- 1 designates a gate, which may be constructed of any suitable material, either wood. or metal, or a combination of both, and which is provided at its corners with upper and lower caps 2, consisting of castings provided with projecting exteriorly-arranged pintles 3, forming sockets for the reception of the corners of the gate. The corner cap or casting, which may have any ornamental configuration, is designed to be varied in shape to fit the character of the gate to which it is to be applied, and to adapt it either for a gate having a wooden frame, or a gate constructed of tubular metal or other material employed in the manufacture of gates. Each corner cap or casting 2 shown in the accompanying drawing, consists of substantially triangular sides and horizontal and vertical connecting portions, the horizontal connecting portions fitting against the upper and lower edges of the gate and carrying the projecting pintles 3. The horizontal and vertical portions are perforated for the reception of screws I for securing the caps or castings to the gate, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

The lower pintles are arranged in eyes 5 of lower supporting brackets 6, secured to the lower portions of a air of hinge posts or supports 7, which are ocated at opposite sides of the gate-way The supporting brackets which are substantially L-shaped, are preierably provided with bracing webs or flanges 8, and the outer bearing portions are provided at opposite sides of the eye5 with inclined projecting extensions or flanges 10, which when the gate is unlatched, as hereinafter explained, are adapted to guide the pintle into the eye in the closing of the gate. The inclined extensions or flanges 10 skid the pintle into the eye 5, and as soon as the pintle drops into the eye, the gate will be held in its closed position, and will be prevented from swinging past the hinge post.

Each of the upper pintles of the gate is received in an upper eye 11 of a movable hinge member 12, consisting of a weighted lever thereof. enlarged, and is heavier than the inner portion, the enlarged portion forming a weight to assist in retaining a lever in engagement with the pintle, and being provided at its lower face with a socket or recess to form the eye 11. The socket or recess, which extends upwardly from the lower face of the enlarged outer portion of the lever, terminates short of the upper face of the enlarged portion, which forms a cap for the upper pintle. The upper bearing bracket is provided with a pair of laterally-extending vertically-disposed flanges, which are perforated for the reception of suitable fastening devices for securing the bearing bracket to the hinge post.

The lower pintles and the lower brackets 6 constitute separable members of the lower hinges of the gate, and these separable mem bers are retained in engagement with each other by the pivoted members 12 and the operating mechanism therefor, as hereinafter fully explained.

The inner arm of the movable hinge member or lever 12 is provided at one side with a recess 1 1 to form a space for the upper end of a connecting rod 15 which has its upper end bent at right angles to form a pivot 16, and the latter is riveted or otherwise secured in the perforation .of the inner end of the movable hinge member or lever 12. The connecting rod extends downwardly and inwardly at an inclination, and is provided at its lower end with an eye 17, which is connected with a loop or bend 18 of an operating device consisting of an approximately U- shaped lever having the said bend 18, whichis arranged centrally of the operating device, and at the upper portion thereof. The lever is provided at opposite sides of the hinge post with a pair of depending handle portions or arms 19, which are connected at their upper or inner ends with the sides of the U-shaped bend 18 by intermediate bearing portions 20, and the latter are arranged in suitable bearings of the hinge post, the bearings being' preferably formed by staples 21, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

lVhen the arms 19 of the operating device or lever are swung backward to the position illustrated at the left-hand side of Fig. 1 of the drawing, the hinge member or lever 12 will be swung upward out of engagement with the upper pintle 3 to release the gate.

When the movable hinge member or lever 12 is in a horizontal position, and in engagement with the upper pintle, the connecting rod is inclined, and its lower end is arranged closer to the hinge post than its upper end, whereby any tendency of the outer arm of the movable hinge member or lever to swing upward will carry the lower end of the connecting rod into engagement with the post. By this construction and arrangement, a lock is provided for positively holding The outer portion of the lever is I the movable hinge member or lever 12 in engagement with the hinge member fastened on the gate, and there is no liability of the movable hinge member or lever at one end of the gate becoming accidentally disengaged from the same when the other end of the gate is raised by hand to lift the pintle thereof out of the lower eye in the opening movement of the gate. The movable hinge member or lever of either end of the gate is adapted to be readily lifted out of engagement with the same, and when either end of the gate is unlatched, it may be swung in either direction.

When both of the movable members or levers are in engagement with the gate, the latter is securely locked and held against movement in either direction. Each of the hinge posts is provided adjacent to the lower end of the connecting rod 15" with a recess 22 receiving the eye of the lower end of the rod 15. The lower wall of the recess 22 forms a stop for limiting the inward movement of the rod.

It will be seen that the gate hinge is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, and that it will enable the gate to be opened at either end and to be swung in either direction.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire'to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a gate, of a lower hinge composed of separable, members, an upper hinge com osed of interfitting members, one of such mterfitting members being pivoted and forming a latch, and operating mechanism located at an intermediate point between the upper and lower hinges and connected with the said pivoted member.

2. The combination with a gate. of a hinge located at the upper ortion of the gate and composed of inter tting members, one

of such interfitting members being pivoted and constituting a latch, and operating mechanism located at a point between the top and bottom of the gate and connected with the said pivoted member.

3. The combination with a gate member, of a hinge provided with a pivoted member detachably engaging the gate member, operating mechanism connected with the pivoted member and engaging the same and forming a lock to retain the pivoted member of the hinge in engagement with the gate member.

4. The combination with a gate member, of a hinge provided with a pivoted member arranged to swing into and outof engagement with the gate member, a rod connected with the pivoted member ofthe hinge, and an operating lever connected with the rod for swinging the pivoted member.

5. The combination with a gate member, of a hinge provided with a pivoted member arranged at the upper portion of and engaging the gate member, an operating device located below the pivoted member of the hinge, and a connecting rod extending from the operating device to the hinge member and forming in connection With said operating device a lock for the latter.

a 6. The combination with a gate member, of a hinge provided with a pivotally mounted member detachably engaging the gate memher, a rod connected with the pivoted member of the hinge, and an operating device having opposite handles and connected at an intermediate portion with the rod.

7. The combination with a gate provided with a projecting pintle, of a pivoted lever having an eye receiving the pintle of the gate, said pivoted member forming a latch and being weighted, whereby it is normally maintained in engagement with the pintle, and operating mechanism located at apoint between the top and bottom of the gate and connected with the said lever to swing the same out of engagement with the pintle.

8. The combination with a gate, and a hinge post, of a bracket mounted on the hinge post, a hinge member pivoted at an intermediate point to the bracket and detachably engaging the gate, means carried by the gate and co-operating with the said member to form a hinge, an operating device connected with the hinge post, and means for connecting the operating device with the hinge member.

9. The combination with. a hinge post,

and a gate, of a corner cap fitted on the gate and having a socket to receive the corner thereof and provided with a pintle, and means mounted on the hinge post and provided with an eye detachably receiving the pintle.

10. The combination with opposite hinge posts or supports, and a swinging gate provided with upper and lower pintles, of lower supporting brackets having eyes receiving the lower pintles, pivoted hinge members mounted on the posts or supports and provided with eyes detachably receiving the upper pintles of the gate, and operating -mechanism mounted on the posts or supports and connected with the pivoted hinge members for swinging the same into and out of engagement with the gate.

11. The combination with a gate provided with a rigid projecting pintle, of an upwardly movable pivoted member formed with a socket to receive the pintle and co-operating with the same to form a hinge for the gate, a support for the pivoted member, said support being mounted on the gate post, and operating means for the pivoted member to disconnect it from the pintle.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afliXed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CARL W. WESTERBERG.

Witnesses:

SIMON O. JOHNSON, GEORGE H. MILLER. 

